My wife and I have a 16 yo male indoor cat named Dexter. For 14 years he was of great health. Two years ago he had kidney problems so we put him on renal dry food and he got better quickly and he was OK for over a year.
Last November, he stopped eating and we took him to the vet. He was a big kitty then, almost 15 pounds. The doctor on call said he’s old and just being picky (I think he’s a heartless idiot who should get fired, just to mention). He also said he has a heart murmur and we should arrange for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that the heart is OK for his age, but they noticed that his bowels are thickened and that they need to do an biopsy to determine what’s going on.
After thinking long and hard about it, we decided to go with the surgery. They took a sample but were unable to determine if it was cancer or “just” IBD, but they had to remove his spleen and noticed that his pancreas is also inflamed. The vet recommended not to go with any aggressive therapies just yet and just try to get his eating back to normal. He recovered well after surgery, still picky with food, but slowly returning to normal. We finally found a wet food that he liked and he was OK for almost two months. And then he started eating less again.
After another ultrasound and blood works, they noticed that the pancreas is still inflamed, but that he also has enlarged lymph nodes and his bloodwork is not great. At this point, our preferred doctor got back from her maternity leave and she’s the only one who we trust. She was not pleased with the other doctors’ behavior and conclusions. We took our kitty to the vet every day for a week for his therapy - antibiotics (Klavuxil), b12 shots, Tramal for the pain, Prevomax against nausea, Nexium, etc. - but his condition hasn’t improved not one bit. Our doctor told us that she would not recommend steroids, or to put him under more stress with food tubes, but to come to terms that he probably won’t get better. He’s under 8 pounds now.
He’s drinking water, he seems to have a desire to eat, but it’s always just a little bit and then he walks away and won’t eat anymore (he’d eat any “new” food for a day, but then no more). We’ve decided to try to feed him only one food and not introduce too many variants, so we’re trying with wet gastrointestinal by Royal Canin. He doesn’t want to eat any solid foods and he’s making weird chewing noises when he does eat. We’re giving him Sucrabest every morning for the nausea. He mostly spends his days sleeping now, either in our bed, or in his big pillow in the sun on the terrace, but he also comes to our laps to cuddle and he purrs. He’s thinner and his hind legs seem to be getting weaker, so I also fear that diabetes might have come into play now.
I know he’s in a lot of pain and I don’t want him to suffer, but I also don’t want to make him go through stressful vet visits anymore. I’m mostly writing this because I need to let it out as I’m coming to terms with the fact that he probably doesn’t have much time left.
If anyone has any last-minute recommendations, I’d love to hear them, although I have pretty much lost all hope by now.
Thanks for reading and thank you for this forum, it’s been a lot of help, both for information and my mental health.
sincerely,
Bruno
Last November, he stopped eating and we took him to the vet. He was a big kitty then, almost 15 pounds. The doctor on call said he’s old and just being picky (I think he’s a heartless idiot who should get fired, just to mention). He also said he has a heart murmur and we should arrange for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that the heart is OK for his age, but they noticed that his bowels are thickened and that they need to do an biopsy to determine what’s going on.
After thinking long and hard about it, we decided to go with the surgery. They took a sample but were unable to determine if it was cancer or “just” IBD, but they had to remove his spleen and noticed that his pancreas is also inflamed. The vet recommended not to go with any aggressive therapies just yet and just try to get his eating back to normal. He recovered well after surgery, still picky with food, but slowly returning to normal. We finally found a wet food that he liked and he was OK for almost two months. And then he started eating less again.
After another ultrasound and blood works, they noticed that the pancreas is still inflamed, but that he also has enlarged lymph nodes and his bloodwork is not great. At this point, our preferred doctor got back from her maternity leave and she’s the only one who we trust. She was not pleased with the other doctors’ behavior and conclusions. We took our kitty to the vet every day for a week for his therapy - antibiotics (Klavuxil), b12 shots, Tramal for the pain, Prevomax against nausea, Nexium, etc. - but his condition hasn’t improved not one bit. Our doctor told us that she would not recommend steroids, or to put him under more stress with food tubes, but to come to terms that he probably won’t get better. He’s under 8 pounds now.
He’s drinking water, he seems to have a desire to eat, but it’s always just a little bit and then he walks away and won’t eat anymore (he’d eat any “new” food for a day, but then no more). We’ve decided to try to feed him only one food and not introduce too many variants, so we’re trying with wet gastrointestinal by Royal Canin. He doesn’t want to eat any solid foods and he’s making weird chewing noises when he does eat. We’re giving him Sucrabest every morning for the nausea. He mostly spends his days sleeping now, either in our bed, or in his big pillow in the sun on the terrace, but he also comes to our laps to cuddle and he purrs. He’s thinner and his hind legs seem to be getting weaker, so I also fear that diabetes might have come into play now.
I know he’s in a lot of pain and I don’t want him to suffer, but I also don’t want to make him go through stressful vet visits anymore. I’m mostly writing this because I need to let it out as I’m coming to terms with the fact that he probably doesn’t have much time left.
If anyone has any last-minute recommendations, I’d love to hear them, although I have pretty much lost all hope by now.
Thanks for reading and thank you for this forum, it’s been a lot of help, both for information and my mental health.
sincerely,
Bruno
He's been struggling a lot for the past few days and we didn't want him to suffer. He went out peacefully this morning, and although it was the most difficult day of my whole life and we're in shock and mourning and it feels unreal, it felt like the right decision for him. I must admit I've never imagined it would hurt this much, that I would feel such profound loss. But I should have known better, as he was so much more than a pet, he was a friend and a part of our family. We've spent 16 beautiful years together, and I find comfort in knowing that he had a good life and was loved and cared for. Again, thank you all for your kindness, it was very appreciated and helped me a lot mentally. Here is Dexter in one of his many cardboard boxes which he loved to chew on and sleep in 
